Primary Care Networks Draft Service Specifications

Network Contract Direct Enhanced Service: Draft Outline Service Specifications
NHS England 23 December 2019

• A draft of the five national service specifications which will be delivered by Primary Care Networks - in collaboration with community services and other providers - from April 2020. Feedback received through a survey (closing 15 January 2020) will inform processes to finalise national contracts.

Alternative models of service delivery by LAs

Local government: alternative models of service delivery
Commons Briefing papers SN05950 (updated 27 April 2016)

• This briefing paper contains examples of new forms of service delivery being implemented by local authorities, including shared services, outsourcing, 'insourcing', and the use of mutual.
• The briefing also includes notes on research that has been conducted on shared services, outsourcing, and trading, plus links to relevant statistical sources.
• Contents:

1. Service delivery in local government 
2. Shared services 
3. Outsourcing 
4. Trading, council companies, and income generation 
5. Community budgets 
6. New models of service delivery: accountability

Experiences of consultants employed by a community organisation

Specialist services in the community: a qualitative study of consultants holding novel types of employment contracts in England
Future Hosp J October 1, 2015 vol. 2no. 3 173-179

• Analysis from consultants’ experiences, of the potential benefits and limitations of specialists being employed by a community organisation.
• Abstract:
• "The aim of this study was to understand, from consultants’ experiences, the potential benefits and limitations of specialists being employed by a community organisation. We carried out a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with consultants holding novel contracts across three specialties: geriatric, respiratory and palliative medicine. 
• Consultants in our study reported that community-based roles offered a number of potential benefits. They felt better able to take a population perspective, to treat patients in a holistic sense and to form good working relationships with community-based colleagues. A number of challenges were also evident, including a lack of clarity about their role, professional isolation and, for those in geriatric and respiratory medicine, a lack of training and career development opportunities. 
• Our study suggests that community-based consultant posts are often taken up by highly motivated individuals who report the benefits in terms of being able to provide more appropriate care for patients but that the long-term development of these posts may be constrained by a number of factors. Their idiosyncratic nature, the lack of clarity around the role, challenges to professional identity and lack of training opportunities or professional development suggest that current approaches to their development may not be sustainable."
• Table 2. Key skills identified for community-based consultants.

See Comment here.